15 Years, 15 Genres, 15 Bands, 15 Great Electronic Albums [Archive]

bac0n

05-29-2008, 10:38 PM

When my friends or others trying to make small talk ask me about what kinda music I generally listen to, I usually quip back with "eh, electronic music".

This is usually followed by blank stares, followed with something along the lines of, "oh, you mean that techno shit, huh."

"Well, no, electronic music, music made with synthesizers and other things, you know, electronically."

"oh, like Techno, huh"

And that's usually as far as the conversation gets. You see, electronic music tends to get misunderstood and pigeonholed into some small box that only encompasses the tip of the iceberg of all the disparate flavors of the thing. That's probably because "electronic music" as a genre description is really a pretty shitty one, kinda like saying you like "saxophone music". It doesn't really do much to describe the music, ya know?

Anywho, in this list, I'll be showcasing some of my favorite electronic albums, each from a different year starting in the early 90s, each produced by a different band, and each from a different genre, or maybe two, or maybe three. Hell, some of them won't really fit that well into any genre.

I'll be trying to post at least two albums a day to keep this moving along at a brisk pace.

Enjoy!

bac0n

05-29-2008, 10:42 PM

1991
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c498/c49837y6234.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: EBM
Band: Front 242
Album: Tyranny (For You)
Released: 1991.01.24

* * * * * * * * *

EBM pioneers Front 242 really hit the sweet spot with their 1991 release Tyranny (For You), achieving the perfect balance between the jagged drum programming, dystopian world view & snarling vocals of their earlier albums with the progressively excessive production of the albums that were to follow.

While many Front 242 and EBM fans would contend that their previous effort, Front By Front, is their zenith, I really think that T(FY) is not only the best Front 242 album to date, but quite possibly the best Electronic Body Music album to be made, ever. Hell, it should, cuz Front 242 is more or less the all-star team of EBM. They have the best EBM vocalist in the biz in Jean-Luc De Meyer, who can get the kinda sound outa his throat that most others need to synthesize using vocorders and other effects. In Richard-23, they have the kind of chanting, stomping and kinetic energy that recalls Nitzer Ebb circa That Total Age. And believe me, R23 is just non-stop movement on stage. I don't know how he keeps it up for an entire show.

But the real stars of Tyranny (For You) are the two programmers, Patrick Codenys & Daniel Bressanutti, for they have crafted up a true marvel in T(FY), creating soundscapes that conjure up images of burning cities and technology gone horribly, horribly wrong. I've always thought of them to be among the top drum programmers in the biz, and this album is why, and that claim holds up even now, some 17 years since this album first came out. P Codenys & Daniel B have abandoned the standard boom-CLANK-boom-boom-CLANK beat that's become a genre cliché in favor of varied and complex rhythms that, while maintaining the mechanical nature required of the album, seem to shift direction on a whim and at times explode into fragments and rain down on you like sparks in a blacksmithery.

The problem with most EBM albums is that they don't age well. Old synths sound dated as newer ones with more oscillators and knobs come along and the expectations of EBM-fans evolve with them, and people get tired of the same old sound over and over and over again. But Tyranny (For You) avoids that fate, partially due to the great production of all those involved in making this album, and probably also because this album was so far ahead of its time.

Ezee E

05-29-2008, 10:43 PM

If it smells like techno. It must be techno.

Qrazy

05-30-2008, 12:25 AM

Yeah, as someone who listens to quite a bit of Electronic as well I agree with your complaints... same thing happens to hip-hop... oh you mean rap? No, no not at all.

bac0n

05-30-2008, 01:36 AM

1992
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c497/c49785kl7r2.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Industrial
Band: Front Line Assembly
Album: Tactical Neural Implant
Released: 1992.05.26

* * * * * * * * *

Tactical Neural Implant is so ubiquitous among the rivethead crowd that most refer to it simply as "TNI". It's as common an acronym to industrial fans as "TCPIP" is to computer geeks or DTs to alcoholics.

And its legendary status is well-deserved, cuz some really kickass songs can be found on this album, headlined by the anthemic Mindphaser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8W6ID8jk4A), a great fist shaker of a song if ever there was one, which to date is one of the only proven ways to get Goths to put down their cloves, get on the dance floor and actually get some exercise.

TNI is sorta like an audio version of Tetsuo The Iron Man, in that it's dark, guttural, foreboding, and at the same time... pretty fucking cool too. Frontman Bill Leeb is a bass player by training, so the rhythm section is front and center here, with a wicked bassline anchoring each song, and on top of that samples of people in distress and various clanging/machinery sounds, multiple layers of percussion, and robotic synths, and of course Bill Leeb's unmistakable voice. How in the hell does he hit notes so low? Perhaps the world will never know.

FLA really put out some great albums in the early 90s, but this was the shit. I fucking worshipped this album, and a few years later, when I happened to meet Bill Leeb, I of course made a total ass of myself, slobbering all over him like a total fucking fanboy.

bac0n

05-30-2008, 02:43 PM

1993
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c469/c46937qjnt0.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Pop
Band: Pet Shop Boys
Album: Very
Released: 1993.10.05

* * * * * * * * *

I've been down with the PSB since their first album Please came out over 20 years ago. I've grown up with them, and I'll probably grow old with them too. Hell, if I was stranded on an island and I could choose the music of only one band to listen to for the rest of my life, the choice would be easy: The Pet Shop Boys. And the album that would get the most play would be my favorite of theirs, Very.

People often make the mistake of discounting the PSB as pop fluff, but there's a lot more under the surface than meets the ear if you take a closer listen, for Pet Shop Boys are one of the most versatile, dependable and consistently exciting musical outfits out there, even now, some 22 years after West End Girls put them on the map. And although their most recent studio album, Fundamental, is their best in years, their 1994 release Very is a great showcase of the great powers that Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe wield.

You have the silly sugar-coated pop songs, the melancholy ruminations on the gay experience and lamenting loved ones lost to AIDS, and a totally kickass cover of The Village People's Go West (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KZ2afBtLU), each song perfectly standalone, yet each fitting in perfectly within the context of the rest of the album. In short, Very has everything that makes Pet Shop Boys awesome, all rolled up in a bright orange corrugated plastic package.

Sven

05-30-2008, 02:45 PM

I loves me some PSB. I think we've talked about this. Excellent album. The first two tracks are untouchable.

bac0n

05-30-2008, 02:55 PM

I loves me some PSB. I think we've talked about this. Excellent album. The first two tracks are untouchable.

No kiddin'! The Pet Shop Boys were in town for the first time ever last year, and I actually got to see them for the first time in my life. And the best part was. they played a song off of just about every album of theres. When Can You Forgive Her? started up, I just about shit my pants.

monolith94

05-30-2008, 03:13 PM

What kind of genre would lemon jelly be? I like them.

bac0n

05-30-2008, 03:32 PM

What kind of genre would lemon jelly be? I like them.

They're one of those bands that pull in so many different things, I wouldn't even know what to call them other than the loose blanket term of "electronica". And '64-'95 is one great album.

Qrazy

05-30-2008, 05:19 PM

They're one of those bands that pull in so many different things, I wouldn't even know what to call them other than the loose blanket term of "electronica". And '64-'95 is one great album.

Personally I find it to be their weakest, greatly prefer both Lost Horizons and LemonJelly.ky

Horbgorbler

05-30-2008, 06:11 PM

PSB are great.

bac0n

05-30-2008, 06:28 PM

Personally I find it to be their weakest, greatly prefer both Lost Horizons and LemonJelly.ky

It's the only one of theirs I have. And if all the others are better, I had better gets me some Lemon Jelly!

bac0n

05-30-2008, 09:31 PM

1997
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd300/d305/d30589pc8a3.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Uh....
Band: The Moog Cookbook
Album: Ye Olde Space Band: Plays Classic Rock Hits
Released: 1997.10.28

* * * * * * * * *

What happens when you get two guys with a large enough collection of vintage analog synths to stock the Smithsonian, dress 'em up as aliens from The Day The Earth Stood Still, and unleash them on some of the larger classic rock hits from the 60s, 70s & 80s? A great freakin' time, is what!

Ye Olde Space Band... is a riot, really it is. It's not just straight up reinterpretations of classic rock songs the likes of Born to be Wild, More Than A Feeling & Ziggy Stardust, it's flat out disintegration and rebuilding them from the ground up, with cool (and often times hilarious) results.

This is because the two silver lemay clad cooks.... shall we say, they take certain liberties with their subject matter. But then again, you'd be surprised at how well More Than A Feeling works as a techno song, or how well the refrain from Hotel California sounds coming out of a Merry-Go-Round (samples of sheep bleating seals the deal), or how John Phillip Sousa might have imagined Kiss' Rock & Roll All Nite.

And another thing - these guys know their synths. All the synths are played live without the help of any MIDI or CV sequencers. The closest we actually get to programming is the occasional arpeggiator playing a synth patch tweaked to sound like a drum beat. Roger Manning (he of the glorious synth collection - I think D_Davis actually got to see it) and Brian Kehew demonstrate impressive virtuosity on the synths here, so after you've stopped laughing at the silliness that abounds in this album, you can be impressed at how well put together and performed it is.

Lasse

05-31-2008, 10:50 AM

Pet Shop Boys' Very is pretty much a perfect album. There is not one weak track on that record.

Oh, and The Theatre is a crazy awesome song. Plus the opening for A Different Kind of View makes the little hairs on my arms rise. :pritch:

Yum-Yum

05-31-2008, 11:14 AM

I own Tyranny <For You> and Tactical Neural Implant, and saw them live when they toured these albums. So, yeah, awesome start.

Wow, you met Bill Leeb?!? Very cool.

I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of your list.

Qrazy

06-01-2008, 02:54 AM

It's the only one of theirs I have. And if all the others are better, I had better gets me some Lemon Jelly!

Oh sweet then yeah it's quite a bit different but almost every track is so memorable and just life affirming... puts me in such a good mood listening to it.

bac0n

06-02-2008, 06:42 PM

1996
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c575/c57516c5k6e.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Ambient
Band: The Future Sound of London
Album: Dead Cities
Released: 1996.10.18 (UK)
* * * * * * * * *

Ambient in only the most general sense of the word, Dead Cities ventures further down the apocalyptic, post-urban path first set upon in the previous FSOL album, ISDN, and takes you to the brink of the abyss before pulling back to the more wondrous, somewhat safe confines of their earlier effort, Lifeforms. All in all, it's quite a trip.

Dead Cities is the kind of album I love in a perverse way, because its sound is so unclassifiable that it must give those industry pundits aneurysms trying to find neat little genre boxes to stuff it into. Trying to classify this album is a losing game, because I don't really consider it an album in the conventional sense to begin with. It's not so much a collection of songs as a huge musical collage whose goal is to paint a picture in your mind using distorted and manipulated samples and swirling synthesizers as the paintbrushes, and the entire audio spectrum as the canvas. This album is so amorphous that at times it's hard to parse where one song ends and another one begins. The liner notes contribute to the whole music-as-art feel of this album, as it contains many visual art pieces by the artists themselves.

There is a standout track on this album, not so much because it's better or worse than any of the others, but mainly because stylistically it is so different from the surrounding tracks in which it is immersed. The second single released off the album, We Have Explosive layers a screaming sawtooth synth over a Run DMC sample and becomes the most dancefloor-friendly track FSOL's put out since their first album, Expander. Not your typical FSOL, but worthwhile nonetheless. And, no surprises here, FSOL had a heavy hand in crafting the very trippy video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3zDV5V3SPg) for it as well.

monolith94

06-02-2008, 11:46 PM

Personally I find it to be their weakest, greatly prefer both Lost Horizons and LemonJelly.ky
Lost Horizons is probably my favorite. Although I greatly messed with my freshman year roommate's head by playing "Nervous Tension" over and over. :D

bac0n

06-03-2008, 03:23 PM

1998
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd200/d200/d20070va5f3.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Trip Hop / Downtempo
Band: Massive Attack
Album: Mezzanine
Released: 1998.04.27
* * * * * * * * *

When bands like Morcheeba, Hooverphonic, Kruder & Dorfmeister and Portishead were dominating the late 90s Trip Hop scene, Massive Attack were oddly quiet. That's because they were busy, building the definitive downtempo masterpiece that is Mezzanine.

Imagine if you will, that the rest of the bands putting out their style of music are sucker MCs standing around in light blue sweat suits, thinking they're hot shit with the thick gold chains around their necks and the boomboxes resting on their shoulders. Imagine now the looks on their faces as a huge gold plated limo with droks pulls up to the curb, the door opens and out rolls a red carpet that stretches 60 feet down the sidewalk, then out step 3D, Daddy G & Mushroom, pimped out beyond belief, with huge knuckle rings so big, their skinny asses can hardly hold 'em up. Now imagine you're one of them sucker MCs seeing this. Suddenly those gold chains around your neck don't seem so big no more. That's how the rest of the trip hop world musta felt, cuz when Massive Attack released Mezzanine, it was more or less them saying very boldly and for all to hear, now this is how it's frickin' done!

The album starts out innocently enough, with the seemingly innocuously titled Angel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTb4u9ma_zY&feature=related), but don't be fooled, this album has a dark bent to it, and the bleakness of it first presents itself within the first few measures of the leadoff track, and by the time you're through the first song, you know what you're in for. Risingson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsMd8xRnwlI) layers it on with dense waves of despair, and only backs off a bit with Teardrop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4wCtGjl2FI&feature=related), the vocals of which are lent by the incomparable Elisabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, before diving back in with the slow building tension of Inertia Creeps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZB4B5Wdcis).

Like a poisonous flower, Mezzanine both threatens you with its tone, and intrigues you with its beauty. Even in songs like Teardrop with an almost spring-like promise to them, there's a darkness lingering just beneath the surface waiting to strike if you're so bold as to strip away the layers.

The true beauty of the album, and the feat that most impresses me about Massive Attack's, well, their attack in general, is in how well they produce their albums. Where other bands throw as much firepower at you as possible to try and achieve some sorta vibe (usually failing), Massive Attack know just when to lay it on heavy and, much more important, when to back off. Mezzanine's vibe is not a punch in the face. It's more like an ache in the back of your head, kinda low, maybe behind your ear toward the base of your skull, maybe somewhere else. The darkness is there, you just don't really know where it's coming from.

Qrazy

06-03-2008, 06:31 PM

Lost Horizons is probably my favorite. Although I greatly messed with my freshman year roommate's head by playing "Nervous Tension" over and over. :D

Haha... opposite of intended effect eh... I'm quite partial to both Patagonia tracks (each album), Staunton Lick, King Raam... it's all good really.

bac0n

06-04-2008, 04:57 AM

1999
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre200/e278/e278171xjgg.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Progressive Trance
Band: Hybrid
Album: Wide Angle
Released: 1999.09.13
* * * * * * * * *

For those electronica fans who expect more from their dance music than the same droning beat driving the same four-measure riff down your throat at 145 BPM for a seeming eternity, or to those of you who think that trance music can't possibly be as musically interesting, artistic, sophisticated, and exciting as other types of music, may I offer you Wide Angle from the Welsh duo Hybrid.

A truly cosmopolitan effort, Hybrid brings a downtown sound that conjures up images of a summer evening on a misty Paris sidewalk rather than the middle of the night in a crowded sweaty Ibiza nightclub, a sorta thinking man's dance music that gets you to pay attention as much as it makes you want to shake your booty, so leave your E at home, cuz ya might miss somethin', whether it be the Vangelis-like saxophone swirls of Beachcoma, French rapping on the track Sinnequanon, or the symphonic, cinematic jaw-dropper that is Finished Symphony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z0CiLbUvi0&feature=related), a track some of you might recognize from the bonus course in the PS2 game SSX.

Unlike most electronic albums you'll come across, Wide Angle features a full orchestra on support, not via sample mind you, but playing actual arrangments, over the top of which Hybrid have applied their considerable technical acumen at crafting complex rhythms, morphing synths and sound effects, and lots and lots of ear candy, and as a result, they have really raised the bar for not only dance electronica, but for electronica as a whole. Dance Music Producers, you've been served notice: the standard four to the floor beat ain't gonna cut it any more.

berlin wallflower

06-04-2008, 06:33 AM

Thanks for the recommendations.

transmogrifier

06-04-2008, 12:17 PM

Massive Attack = the business.

bac0n

06-04-2008, 06:34 PM

2000
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre100/e163/e16307la3g8.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: drum n' bass / big beat / turntablism / jazz / blues / mayhem
Band: Amon Tobin
Album: supermodified
Released: 2000.05.16
* * * * * * * * *

If Future Sound of London is hard to shove into a genre, then Amon Tobin is nigh impossible, and his albums are wonders of sample deconstruction, perversion, recombination and reimagination, creating a huge smörgåsbord of dueling sounds that sound messy, dense, and chaotic and, yet, impossibly, all seem to fit together some way.

While this album might not be my favorite of his (the album to follow, Out From Out Where holds that distinction), this album is the one that made me a die-hard Amon Tobin fan, cuz it is so unusual, so unlike anything else out there, that I can't help but be drawn to it.

Long have I been looking for an act or two that would bridge the gap between Jazz and Electronica in the same way that Digable Planets did for hip-hop, and Amon Tobin comes about as close to bridging that gap, and furthermore, capturing the spirit of jazz, as anyone I've heard thus far. The influences of Jazz are definitely there, and obvious, from the breaks in the opening track Get Your Snack On that sound like Max Roach locked in an eternal drum break, to the stand-up bass riffs in Saboteur (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-IJBCkMw6Q) that recall Charlie Mingus.

Similar to FSOL in approach if not in style, much of this album, and indeed much of Tobin's body of work as a whole, consist of densely packed, multiple layered sounds that move to the forefront and back again in constant waves, and showcase the skills of a man who must have boxes and boxes, no, rooms and rooms full of vintage vinyl from which he can draw, and the mammoth skills with samplers to extract from them what he wants and distort, combine and use them in exciting ways. And furthermore, he has the musical sensibilities and artistic vision to make worthwhile songs out of them without sounding self-indulgent. This album showcases that skill. And it sounds pretty frickin' cool, too.

bac0n

06-05-2008, 06:09 PM

2001
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre500/e588/e58895hd5uz.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: SILLY!
Band: Tipsy
Album: Uh-Oh!
Released: 2001.03.06
* * * * * * * * *

If hammond organs, Hawaiian Guitars, bubbly sounds and the occasional monkey snort are your bag, then just pop in Uh-Oh! by electro-lounge jokesters Tipsy and prepare to be taken to a place where men smoke pipes, wear their button up shirts tucked in to their shorts and socks with their flip-flops, where the women wear dresses that look to be made of the same material as the covers on their picnic tables, and wear high-heels all the time, even while they're cooking. In short Uh-Oh! feels like some sorta 1950s nuclear family acid trip.

The guys in Tipsy put only two albums out, but boy, did they get their money's worth on what little they did, for this album is chock full of all sorts of fun. It's kinda like someone took 50s exotica, some bassanova, a little bit of Esquivel-style lounge, and shot it point blank with a near lethal dose of radiation, and what emerged is some sorta mutant monster stomping in the valleys of Southern California, drunk, and with a cocktail in its hand that looks like it has a fruit salad growing out the top of it.

Now, I've heard of horns, guitars, what have you, being played forwards, hell, I've heard what it sounds like when they're being played backwards. But I think these guys are managing to play their horns sideways. Yeah, sideways. All the instruments sampled and tied together with duct tape & bailing wire to build this delightful mess of an album seem to be just a little off kilter, like something's sorta wrong with them. Case in point, the somewhat psychotic song Wig Out! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plGIHifok1w) seems like at any time, Nurse Ratched could walk in and bring all the fun to a stop. Just try to listen to it without cracking the smile. And the same goes for the rest of this album. This is one of the goofiest, tongue-in-cheek and plain ol' FUN albums I own.

I used to play Uh-Oh! at the cocktail parties I used to throw back when I pretended to have a social life, and the music had a strange way of disarming people and stripping away all the pretension, so that people could just relax and enjoy themselves. And it's still a fave at the house, even now that cocktail parties with my friends have given way to birthday parties with my daughter's friends.

Rowland

06-06-2008, 09:37 PM

bac0n

06-06-2008, 10:17 PM

What do you think of FLA's recent stuff, bac0n? I find most of their stuff embarrassing to listen to these days, mainly because of the cheesy lyrics/vocals, but I still dig out FLA albums now and then.

Heh, Leeb has never been noted for his poetic abilities, but for awhile, FLA's other attributes were strong enough that I could look past them. Hell, the title track of their album Millennium has some of the most insipid lyrics I've ever heard, but everything else comes together to make a totally kickass song.

As for whether I follow them... I kinda grew away from EBM and industrial music six or seven years ago because most of it, FLA-included, was no longer that appealing to me. That being said, the most recent album of theirs that I've heard was Epitaph from 2001. I thought it was pretty meh. It had the trademark FLA sound, but no standout tracks and nothing I hadn't heard a thousand times before.

My interest in FLA started waning around Flavour of the Weak when Rhys Fulber left to pursue his stuff with Fear Factory full time, and they started overproducing the shit out of their albums. It dwindled completely at the somewhat appropriately titled Epitaph.

Rowland

06-06-2008, 11:03 PM

I got into FLA during their Implode era, so I have a soft spot for that stuff, but they have definitely been spinning their wheels as of late. The last album was entirely devoid of inspiration, I listened to it two times through and not a single track stood out, just sheer monotony.

Acapelli

06-07-2008, 02:39 AM

not choosing discovery for 2001 makes me sad

unless you're one of those people who thinks homework is better

Boner M

06-07-2008, 05:33 AM

not choosing discovery for 2001 makes me sad

unless you're one of those people who thinks homework is better
What's with this sudden use of small caps? Don't tell me you've become completely hipinionized.

Acapelli

06-07-2008, 05:43 AM

What's with this sudden use of small caps? Don't tell me you've become completely hipinionized.
i have no idea, looks like that's what's happened though

Boner M

06-07-2008, 12:20 PM

i have no idea, looks like that's what's happened though
Next you're gonna be making Boris upload threads every hour.

bac0n

06-07-2008, 02:22 PM

not choosing discovery for 2001 makes me sad

unless you're one of those people who thinks homework is better

Funny you should mention Discovery. It's very near and dear to my heart. I was listening to it a lot when I was vacationing in Japan. I can't help but think of riding the densha (commuter trains) whenever One More Time comes up on iTunes.

In fact, Discovery is my favorite album by Daft Punk, but you see, Uh-Uh! is one of my favorite albums ever.

Horbgorbler

06-07-2008, 02:29 PM

What's with this sudden use of small caps? Don't tell me you've become completely hipinionized.

I thought he was just imitating Roast Beef.

Acapelli

06-07-2008, 05:32 PM

Funny you should mention Discovery. It's very near and dear to my heart. I was listening to it a lot when I was vacationing in Japan. I can't help but think of riding the densha (commuter trains) whenever One More Time comes up on iTunes.

In fact, Discovery is my favorite album by Daft Punk, but you see, Uh-Uh! is one of my favorite albums ever.
fair enough

guess i should check out uh uh! then

Boner M

06-10-2008, 02:00 PM

Acapelli, did you get my PM?

Sven

06-10-2008, 02:37 PM

Funny you should mention Discovery. It's very near and dear to my heart. I was listening to it a lot when I was vacationing in Japan. I can't help but think of riding the densha (commuter trains) whenever One More Time comes up on iTunes.

When I was working at Blockbuster, we threw out a huge metal filing cabinet. I decided that I wanted it, so that night, all by myself, I retrieved the filing cabinet from the dumpster (very hard... thing was easily over 200 pounds) and loaded it onto a shopping cart and carted it home (which was a little over a mile away). All the while, I was listening to Discovery. Now, whenever I hear any song from that album, especially One More Time, I think of that night. Good times.

bac0n

06-10-2008, 07:47 PM

2002
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf300/f396/f39617fsif2.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Club/Dance/Progressive House
Band: Sasha
Album: Airdrawndagger
Released: 2002.07.02
* * * * * * * * *

After years on the world club circuit as one of thee preeminent DJs and remixers, and after releasing the very cool Prog Trance hit XPander (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAJAIxaV7a8) (the unnoficial theme song for PSX game Wipeout XL), Sasha's first (and to date only) album of completely original material must have taken people a bit by surprise. That's cuz Airdrawndagger is a very different sound than Sasha's previous remix albums and his Global Underground collaborations with fellow DJ John Digweed. Rather than a thumping throbbing dancefloor-friendly endeavor, Sasha released an album that I suppose you could dance to if you really wanted to, but was just as well suited for listening if what you were wanting to do was chill out instead. I don't know of many albums that can in a certain mood pump adrenaline or in another can relax you, but such is the unlikely case with Airdrawndagger.

More than anything else, the album feels like a ride through a futuristic city aboard a monorail, with silver spires and lights speeding by. There's a sense of wonder to it that starts slow and kinda weird with the minimalist bassline and rhythm coupled with the singular echoing synthesizer that sounds like water bouncing off plastic with Mr Tiddles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKahV3x4cg), taking you deeper into an alien world with the equally alien sounding Magnetic North (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMdoSXl8VBQ) before reaching a crescendo and holding it with the ultra-sleek and streamlined Cloud Cuckoo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR351-l068g), holding it for a few songs that some people might feel inclined to dance to, before pulling back a little and ending on a playful note on the final two (and my personal favorite) tracks on the album, Golden Arm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrvcUPFlgmU) and Wavy Gravy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLlYWNg65ls).

So, yeah, Sasha must have pissed off a few people who were expecting something they could drop some E and spin their glowsticks to. But me, I like to be pleasantly surprised, especially when those differences add up to a better experience in the long run. I wished more of those DJs out there would use a bit of their caché and try to challenge people to listen to something a little different more often. Maybe then we'd get more albums like Airdrawndagger.

bac0n

06-19-2008, 10:44 PM

2004
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg200/g279/g27907b4cv8.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Eclectic/Downtempo
Band: Air
Album: Talkie Walkie
Released: 2004.02.17
* * * * * * * * *

Do you have an album that takes you back to a certain time in your life, evokes shadows of certain emotions you harbored once upon a time? Probably. Me too, and one such album is Air's understated and somewhat demure album Talkie Walkie. Dunno why, but every time I hear it, I recall fond memories of the carpool I used to be a part of. Kinda ironic, cuz the over-sugared sophomoric tone that most carpool conversations turn are the exact opposite of the quiet sophisticated tone this album takes.

Air is proof that you don't need to sound synthetic to make electronic music, opting for a more organic sound with each successive album. And from what I hear, their live shows are much the same way. Instead of using DAT machines as crutches and hiding behind giant mixing boards like a lot of other acts in this very lists, Air perform as many sounds as they can live, which can't be easy, because Air's palette is expansive, using instruments and sounds from all over the globe to construct their nice little Parisian ditties.

Talkie Walkie is an album that takes its time to tell its story, never feeling rushed. Quite the opposite, it's a very slow and casual stroll from track to track, most of which have no more than four instruments playing a the same time, several of the songs a scant two instruments, such as the opening track, Venus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SiIDDoN4lM), which cuts a mysterious tone to start things off, and the quiet Alone in Kyoto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ4Pm0N8s78), which was playing when Scarlett Johansson was visiting the Shinto temples in Lost in Translation. In between, there's the playfulness of Alpha Beta Gaga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjFDlM-3JBo), one of the few electronic songs you'll hear that pairs whistling & banjo, and Jean-Benoît Dunckel's shy, cherubic singing on the equally playful Surfing On A Rocket (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siJlPtWkmzw).

In many ways, stylistically, this album is the exact opposite of a lot of the other albums on this list (particularly the first two), but in many ways, that's a lot of why I like it, and why I like electronic music in particular. The stuff that fits under this umbrella is so diverse, there's something in there to suit just about every taste and sensibility.

bac0n

06-21-2008, 03:57 AM

2005
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dri200/i255/i25577f1kvf.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Psychedelic Ambient aka Psibient
Band: Shpongle
Album: Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost
Released: 2005.07.11
* * * * * * * * *

Story goes, two DJs were on a sorta visionquest in India, and they happened upon a solar eclipse, which blew them the hell away, rocked them to the very core of their beings, something akin to a spiritual reboot. They then decided that they needed to try and recreate this experience sonically, feeling the need to share this experience.

I remember an experience maybe kinda sorta like what they must have inhaled once upon a time ,when I went on a long hike, the only thing being carried being a sleeping bag. I can't tell you how much something as simple as staring up into the stars, unadulterated by city lights, blew my 15 year old mind. There i was staring up at the universe, and there it was, staring right back at me.

Back to the these DJs. They would eventually call themselves Shpongle, and they would, indeed, mere mortals as they were, make an album that would effectively approximate something as spiritually shocking and humbling as an eclipse of the sun. And this album would be called, prophetically enough, Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost.

dreamdead

06-21-2008, 02:17 PM

Haven't listened to any of Air's works since Moon Safari, which, save for Ce Matin La (is that the one that sounds like whales?), never really stuck with me. That said, the Air tracks you linked to all sound fantastic. I might have to reappraise my initial thoughts.

Shpongle sounds interesting from your description. Will look into them more in the future...

Lasse

06-21-2008, 05:14 PM

Talkie Walkie is so underrated, but I love it. Great choice. Cherry Blossom Girl is my favorite track.

bac0n

06-22-2008, 04:48 PM

Haven't listened to any of Air's works since Moon Safari, which, save for Ce Matin La (is that the one that sounds like whales?), never really stuck with me.

Track 2 of Moon Safari, Kelly Watch The Stars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inw_knU4jbM) has something that sounds like whales in it. Is that the song you're thinking of? Regardless, I love this song.

bac0n

07-03-2008, 03:00 PM

2006
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh400/h445/h44525lsvew.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Unclassifiable
Band: BT
Album: This Binary Universe
Released: 2006.08.29
* * * * * * * * *

Those of you familiar with BT's work who are expecting a collection of radio friendly techno-pop songs along the lines of "Never Gonna Come Back Down", forget about it; this is a different beast entirely. Unclassifiable and mind-blowing in every sense of the word, it's true when they call this album the first true electronic masterpiece of the 21st Century, cuz that's exactly what This Binary Universe is: a masterpiece. At first it seems to harken back to BT's beginnings as a purveyor of ambient soundscapes, but then the album quickly gets a soft pulse, comes alive, starts to breath... and then it swallows you whole.

Past BT albums were fun, and demonstrated a remarkable technical acumen, but for the most part I felt his considerable talents were wasted on pretty pedestrian material. But for the really weird "how the hell did he do that", audio special effects, most of his songs were, well, boring. To give you a better idea idea, picture this: his last album had JC Chasez of N'Sync on vocals for several tracks. But still, I kept buying his stuff, cuz I was willing to look past that cotton candy to catch the little glimpses of brilliance scattered here and there. Well, with This Binary Universe, the cotton candy has been stripped away, and what's left is fucking amazing.

This Binary Universe started out as a song, "Good Morning Kaia", a lullaby to his then newborn daughter, and was composed, like most of the other songs on this album, with Kaia sitting on his lap. His friend Patty Jenkins, the director of the movie Monster, for which BT did the soundtrack, suggested BT do an entire album of songs, and thusly This Binary Universe had its genesis, eventually evolving into a collection of seven lullabies, each varying in length from eight minutes to over fourteen, and into each song, he poured every idea he had, so much so that he exceeded the limitations of the equipment he was using. As a result, he developed his own software to fill the gaps, creating a new variant of the technique called the Stutter Edit, incredibly short bits of sound spliced together to form a stutter-like effect. The opening track was programmed in the computer language CSound and took in excess of six months to build. All in all, it's a pretty impressive project.

If you want to know more about the making of this album, check out this interview on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGG6T-e0B30).

None of the songs follow any of your standard conventions, they're not songs so much as suites, with beginnings, middle parts, and endings rather than verses and refrains. Many of the songs shift in theme, tempo and time signature like the changing of the wind. You can be listening to a slight ambient sound at one moment, and then be transported to a smoky jazz room the next, and then be chased by a full orchestra the next. It's quite a trippy journey.

To be sure, This Binary Universe is a challenging album. It's not the kind of album you can just have on in the background while you work, do chores or visit with your friends. It demands your attention, and being that it was created with in full 5.1 DTS, you really owe it to yourself to listen to it on a stereo with five channels of surround, cuz BT takes full advantage of the entire 3D stereo soundfield.

And the icing on the cake is that for each of the songs, BT has contracted visual artists to create short films. Not music videos per se', these visual pieces are more like moving paintings, and they really compliment this music well. Those films come on a DVD which accompanies the album.

If there's only one album in this entire thread that you check out, let it be this one.

Russ

07-03-2008, 05:56 PM

If there's only one album in this entire thread that you check out, let it be this one.
Sold! I'll check back to let you know how it stacks up.

Lasse

07-03-2008, 09:26 PM

If there's only one album in this entire thread that you check out, let it be this one.

I listened to bits of it on YouTube, and it sounded alright, but I have a feeling that fast forwarding through the songs on YouTube isn't exactly giving the album a fair chance.

D_Davis

07-03-2008, 09:26 PM

Cool thread man.

I've been reading some of it while I was away.

Good stuff.

I don't care for Talkie Walkie much. I think Air's first 3 albums are still their best, with Moon Safari being the tops. IMO, they just haven't captured the atmosphere or hooks of that album. Their latest offering was a real bore.

I totally expected more Meat Beat Manifesto though.

No Subliminal Sandwich? Come on now!

And yes, I actually stayed at Moog Cookbook's house while my band was recording in So Cal. It was pretty amazing.

bac0n

07-03-2008, 09:27 PM

2007
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dri800/i865/i86558lfm5j.jpg

* * * * * * * * *
Genre: Electro-Funk
Band: Justice
Album: †
Released: 2007.06.11
* * * * * * * * *

Justice went to the same school as Daft Punk, but they were the bullies who stole Daft Punk's lunch money and threw their tennis shoes in the trash. If Scutt Farkus made an electronic album, I bet it would sound a lot like †.

† is a great album to roll down the windows and give people the finger to, what with it's brutal basslines, spliced up and reconstituted together like american cheese and slapped around like a five dollar hooker, and beats that are not merely fat, but morbidly obese, as if they've been force-fed cheatos and coke and not allowed off the couch for five years, not even to take a shit. In short, the album is that same sorta misanthropic fun you're sorta scared to admit you enjoy, kinda like playing Grand Theft Auto just to steal cars and punch people driving mopeds.

The festivities start out in proper fashion with Genesis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThKNt-GY1ww), effectively announcing with a thick bassline, we're here, get the fuck outa the way or you're gonna get smacked, and struts along with the same swagger as Sonny Chiba walking down the street with his shirt unbuttoned all the way, beating the shit out of any fool who so much as shoots him a cross eye. The audio beatdown then becomes the second becomes the third becomes the fourth in one seamless stream of liquid badass before reaching the pinnacle of awesome with the anthemic DVNO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIVqIKbouY8), which if you watch the totally awesome video consists of four capital letters written in gold, cuz it makes the girls sweat even more. And just when you think that they're too preoccupied with how awesome they are to kick your ass, along comes Stress (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsmzNB_eXek)which kicks you in the balls and then knocks you to the curb. Ha, shoulda seen that one coming, motherfucker!

Anyway, you should be afraid of this record. More over, you should be afraid not to get this record, cuz I'm petty sure if a record could kick your ass, this one could.